DECLARE VICTORY IN IRAQ AND BRING TROOPS HOME (ED KOCH AND CHRIS RUDDY)

Newsmax ^ | 1/19/05 | Ed Koch and Chris Ruddy

[eclectic]

It's a little late to declare victory...

[murdocj]

If they want a fundamentalist Islamic country let em have it. As long as they aren't growing a crop of terrorists or threatening Israel there is no reason to bomb them into the dust.

So are you suggesting that a fundamentalist Islamic country probably wouldn't grow terrorists or threaten Israel?

I agree that if there are no terrorists and no threat to Israel, they should do (almost) whatever they want. What do you think the odds of a fundamentalist Islamic country meeting both of those conditions? 5% likely? 50% likely? 90% likely?

[areafiftyone]

If I am not mistaken Our troops are training the Iraqi Army. They may not be as many as were there when Saddam was in power though!

[hotsteppa]

Ok, am I missing something here. We are engaged in a war on terror. There are terrorist's in Iraq fighting our brave soldiers. We went to Afghanistan and clean that place out, now why should we leave Iraq half done? So they can overcome the present government, rebuild and again try to attack us here, and then we gotta go back in again?

People, think long term. Are we trying to say now, that all terrorist's have to do is keep creating violence, destruction and mayhem and that will tire the American people and change our policies? I say if we declare victory and withdraw, that in itself is a defeat and does not uphold the sacrifices given so far. We are in this war for the long term, how soon we forget what half azz measure brought us before Sept 11th. Are we really a nation currently that do not have the stomach for a long fight? It seems that way to me.

Peace

[funkywbr]

Ditto!

[MarshallDillon]

IRAQ reminds me of a hobby-turned-business that made some good money before turning back into an expensive hobby. When does one decide to get out?

If we get out now, IRAN will just get that much bigger and more powerful. The Iranian Pasdaran agents are all over Iraq making sure their terroist power base expands upon our departure. We can not afford to just "get out" in order to please those who despise us in Western Europe.

[cvq3842]

Agreed on that! Offer a solution, another program, something. The Dems just throw mud, hoping something will stick.

I believe also that the Iraqis have been handed a golden opportunity. If they want freedom, they can fight for it. We can't do everything for them.

I do believe that this has to figure into the Bush administration's thoughts too. But he can't come out and say "we're leaving as soon as possible, so the terrorists just have to hang in there and outlast us." Duh. He has to talk and act strong, because the terrorists are very well-versed in the kind of campaign that's worked against the US before.

It all comes down to whether you generally trust the administration in power to follow the best available course, knowing that perfect solutions are rarely available. In this case, I do. Time will tell.

[jeremiah]

The stated goal was to remove Saddam and sons. How long are we in Korea? Germany? Serbia? That is the prototype of this sort of thing. We are there for the next generation at least.

[kempo]

After the people of Iraq have their election Bush should tell the leaders of that country that we are pulling our troops out. We would be willing to have specially trained shoulders to stay and train their troops if they wanted but we would no longer fight their war. If the people of Iraq really want freedom and they should be willing to fight for it.

[jeremiah]

There is no long fight, we are policing over there, not fighting a war. When we start attacking the supply lines and the havens in other countries that are training the men coming in, that is a war. When we allow the men on the ground to call air strikes at stubborn targets, that is war. What we are doing now, is EXACTLY like Vietnam, allowing politicians to micromanage the war. Most of the casualities are from ambushes, and booby traps. Time to line up people and shoot them when caught, bomb mosques, and flatten entire neighborhoods. Not ONE more dead soldier, trying to save an innocents blood. Our guys are more important to keep alive, then ANY of theirs.

[MEG33]

http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/

[bubman]

How about Japan or Germany? Why the haste? Piano piano!!. The job ain't over yet.

[roses of sharon]

Maybe so, in some form. As we are in Afghanistan, as we were in SA, and our weapons are protecting Israel, and as we were in Lebanon.

The ME is and has been for 40 years, the breeding ground for murder, mayhem, war, and WMD in the hands of the cults of Islam.

They have been roaming the globe for decades, murdering innocents, blackmailing governments, and brainwashing youths to commit suicide.

We need to watch closely, on the ground in some form, and I'm sure we are doing some heavy recruiting for infiltration into these suicide cults.

[BigBobber]

Exactly.

This war is far from over and Iran is next. Remember all the libs telling us what a great threat Iran was in the last election cycle?

By occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, we have Iran in a giant pincher and they know it. They are fighting like hell to get us out of Iraq for that reason. If we pull out of Iraq all the terror battles will shift to Afghanistan. Count on it. Look at the big picture, folks.

[rudypoot]

I think they are both wrong. We stuck out the occupations of Germany and Japan and we should do the same with Iraq. We can only leave when we know we will not leave a power vacuum.

[RaginRak]

Let's announce the end of crime and dismiss all police forces

[OldFriend]

Are these the same folks who chided the first President Bush for eight long years saying we should have gone all the way to Baghdad during the first gulf war?

Are these the same folks who criticized us for allowing Saddam Hussein to murder the folks in the south who fought against him in the first war?

Shame on Koch. Guess he agreed with Clinton that Rwanda wasn't worth our efforts either.

As for Ruddy, I have no clue as to where he is coming from.....but I have a hunch.

[CWW]

And then when Iran moves in and establishes a fundamentalist government and controls both sides of the Persian Gulf, then what smart guy?

[boofus]

Then if they so much as blink wrong turn that whole region into a sea of glass.